Anyway, while I do think your interpretation of the two witnesses is viable, my current take on the two witnesses is a little different than what you described. But, I do see them as being symbolic, not representing two individuals, and representing the preaching of the gospel throughout the world during the symbolic 1,260 days just as you do.
So, Yes, I believe Two Witnesses are God's people in the New Testament with the power of the Spirit to preach the Gospel to the World. Anyone who is born from above has been endowed with power by the Spirit of God in them that they become His Witness. This just means that God has bestowed upon them the power to prophecy, which they didn't have before (ie. Old Testament). And that is why the word, "power", is included in most translations. Without the power of the Holy SPirit within us bearing witness with our spirit (Romans 8:16), we have NO power and can NOT be a true witness of God. Because these are two things which make us a faithful witnesses of God. The Word and His Spirit.
You related the fact that the two witnesses are described symbolically as "two olive trees" to Zechariah 4 (which is not unreasonable), but I personally relate it to Romans 11:16-24 where Paul describes a natural olive tree, representing the kingdom of God that in OT times only the nation of Israel was part of. And he describes a wild olive tree, representing the Gentiles, being grafted into it so that they too could "partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree" (Romans 11:17). Of course, it's only Gentile believers who are grafted in because being grafted in is based on having faith. Those in unbelief are cut off (Romans 11:17,22).
The two witnesses are also described as "two candlesticks" and in the book of Revelation "candlesticks" symbolically represent churches (Revelation 1:20). So, I see the two witnesses as representing the congregations of the Jews and the Gentiles witnessing together as one to the world. As Jesus said in Acts 1:8, "ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.".
It's possible that we're both right and that the two witnesses represent both the witness of the Word and the Spirit and the witness of Jew and Gentile believers together in the church as one body (one olive tree grafted in with another). The church witnesses through the power of the Word and the Spirit. Regardless, we both see it as a symbolic representation of the preaching of the gospel throughout the world rather than talking about two individuals witnessing in Jerusalem for a literal 1,260 days in the future as many believe.
Luke 8:16
- "No man when he lighteth a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a Candlestick, that they which enter in may see the Light."
Matthew 5:14
- "Ye are the light of the world, A City that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
- neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a Candlestick; and it giveth Light unto all that are in the house."
We have Jesus Christ Himself using the same Candlestick [
luchnia] to symbolize the Church, and the witnesses work in the New Testament Church as those keeping the light shinning continually, not hiding it, but bringing this light to the World. It doesn't get much plainer than this. And note that Jesus also equates the Church with a 'city' which is set upon a hill. This is the Holy city Jerusalem, the spiritual city of peace and light. And so we have conclusive indisputable evidences throughout scripture that the candlestick symbolizes the Church, the earthly representation of the light of the Lord. There is really no reason for speculation about it symbolizing anything else, unless one is predisposed to believing such ideas. For God Himself reveals the mystery on several diverse fronts.
Will this definition of the two witnesses hold true in the other images God uses for them, such as the two witnesses or the two Olive Trees? Do those also symbolize the Church which is the earthly representation of Christ? Again, we go back to the number one rule of sound hermeneutics, '
the Bible is it's own interpreter.' If we start off with no preconceived ideas about what it signifies, and search out the pertinent scriptures, it's not long before we see that the Olive tree is indeed used by God to symbolize the Church. For example in Hosea 14, speaking of Christ we read:
Hosea 14:5-7
- "I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
- His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the Olive Tree, and his smell as Lebanon."
- They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon."
The Israel of God is ultimately Christ, and the children of God who dwell under the shadow of this tree will have no scorching sun on them. When we are in Christ, we are like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord (Psalms 52:8). This is the Salvation and the hope of the Israel of God. And as we are the light of the world because Christ is the light of the world, so we are the Olive tree because Christ is this Olive tree. He is the Israel of the New Covenant in whom if we abide, we are sons of God. We can see this most clearly in a passage like Romans chapter nine or chapter eleven where the Gentile nations are grafted into New Covenant Israel, which is symbolized by the Olive tree.
Romans 11:17
- "And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;"
Clearly God is using a wild olive tree to symbolize the Gentile nations, and the natural Olive Tree to symbolize the representation of Covenant Israel into which believers are grafted. i.e., we join with Paul and the Apostles into Christ, the true Israel of God (Ephesians 2:11-19) which this Covenant tree merely represents. This is the New Covenant Church, and it is symbolized by the olive tree having Gentiles grafted into it that they become heirs (right along with the Jews) according to the promises to Israel. And so once again we see the Word of God showing just who the olive tree represents. All those Gentiles coming into this Jewish olive tree are the believers coming into the New Covenant Congregation. Those branches of the tree broken off are those of Israel who come under judgment and are blinded. The Jewish brethren who are Saved are the branches in this same tree right along with us. So we see Jewish people and Gentiles, all in the exact same olive tree of Salvation.
Likewise in Zechariah chapter four, the symbolism of two olive trees and the candlestick (lampstand) are signifying the Church.
Zechariah 4:2-6
- "And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
- And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
- So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
- Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
- Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."
The Lampstands and olive tress stand before God, not by their own power or by their own might, but by the Holy Spirit of the Lord. This again illustrating what we've been seeing of the two Witnesses. It is not by any power we have inherently, but because of the power of the Holy Spirit of God given us that we witness or have the testimony of Christ. Not by our own oil, but by the pure oil of the Olive tree. Not by our own light, but by the light of the candle. The two olive trees symbolize the anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth (Zechariah 4:14), not by their own power, but by power of God. This symbolizes the Church, anointed by the Spirit of God. Just as we read that the two Witnesses of Revelation also stand by the Lord of the earth.
Zechariah 4:14
- "Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth."
The same thing Revelation Chapter Eleven says of the two candlestick/olive trees there. They stand before the God of the earth. They are the anointed ones, meaning they are those who are anointed by the Holy Spirit, by being in Christ. The oil for the light is not theirs, it is that given them.
1st John 2:27
- "But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."
So we have seen from God's Word that the Witnesses represent the Church, the Candlesticks represent the Church, and the Olive Tree represents the Church, and that they are the anointed ones who stand before the God of the earth. All roads are leading to the same inescapable conclusion. This imagery represents the Church.
